I hear you ... the bank I worked at in Colorado had its entire teller line still on NT 4.0, and probably still does. Of course, it was behind several layers of firewall.

The difference between that bank and where I work now, though, is that the bank had a completely static configuration -- all the software that was ever going to need to be on those machines already was, and updating them was never going to happen either (no need to).

Here, though, all the machines are in production, and people come through the door all the time expecting us to be able to install modern software on these systems. Making matters worse, many of them are 64-bit.

Now, exactly why would anyone leave XP for a new OS that certainly requires more memory, requires a whole new set of application software, and a new learning curve to understand it?

As far as I'm concerned, I'll keep XP for the next 10 years if I can.

As long as someone keeps producing security updates that patch the various vulnerabilities -- or, alternatively, you can put it behind a strong firewall -- there's no reason to do so. Unless, perhaps, you're a gamer and need a newer version of DirectX than XP can support, or you need 64-bit support so you can run more than 4 GB of RAM (there is a 64-bit version of XP, but the driver support is terrible), or you need to run a newer version of Internet Explorer than is supported by XP, or ...

So there are a few reasons, but I think for the average user, there isn't one that is really compelling.

................a what????

I mean if all you are doing is internet, and IM chatting or even basic Office things, then yes I don't see much of a point unless your after the newer looking interface.

Personally I llike the changes made from XP->7 and 7->8..for the most part. I've not used the Metro stuff daily so I can't weigh in on it. From what I've seen the desktop UI changes are nice.

The start menu search in Windows 7 is very nice. I much prefer it to hunting through "all programs" looking for something or cluttering up my desktop with shortcuts.

Simple answer.... they want to donate to Bill Gates.

I have three computers on my desk under the auspices of two LARGE COMPANY IT departments and one of them is still XP. Works great!

The Windows 7 computers both have much later versions of Office to go with them. From what I can tell there is very little difference "under the hood." The difference is the way the applications appear. Since the applications LOOK different, they must be worth an upgrade charge, right?:rolleyes:

Under the hood of Office 2010 running on XP and on 7?

or

Under the hood of XP vs 7?

Which applications? Office 2010 should look more or less the same running in XP vs 7.

I have Office 2010 on the Windows 7 machines. I have no idea what ancient Office version is on the XP machine, but with the exception of a different look and feel and some obscure changes in Office 2010, the antique version will do virtually the same thing.

Windows XP serves quite well as opposed to Windows 7 with a different look and feel.

My point is that with minor changes under the hood and major changes in the look and feel, they get many people to send them money.

When I worked for software companies, since we were developing and testing products on a daily basis, we had no choice but to have the very latest version Op Sys. For the end user, the only reason to pay to upgrade is when your applications require it.

That's where we're at. When they come out with 9, we'll be ready for 8.

Legacy software, custom written for 16 bit OS, prevents a lot of companies from moving platforms.

XP mode in Windows 7, virtualization of XP in Windows 8, or just run the software on a server that's accessed remotely.

Legacy hardware as well. I know some instances where older PCI/ISA slot hardware is still in use and it most likely not easily compatible with newer OSes.

I hear you on that. I still deal with some equipment that requires an RS/232 port for programming :)

Fortunately there are USB-to-serial adapters. Otherwise everyone with anything made by Cisco would be screwed.

I just keep an old pre-Chinkpad Thinkpad around for those contingencies.